VACANCIES (Hansard, 18 November 1998)

§ Mr. Paul Murphy
I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 88, 91 to 103 and 276.

§ Mr. Murphy
This is a rather large group of amendments covering with a series of related and technical issues, but dealing broadly with the powers, privileges and proceedings of the Assembly.
Amendments Nos. 93 and 96 concerning the Assembly's power to call witnesses and papers are relatively minor and technical. The most important is amendment No. 97. It enables the Presiding Officer to apply an oath to a witness, meaning that those giving untruthful answers will be guilty of perjury. Amendment 1045 No. 87 makes it clear that the Assembly's proceedings will not be invalidated by any vacancies in its membership.
Several other amendments concern the Assembly's privileges. In line with the Scotland and Wales legislation, amendments Nos. 102 and 103 provide that those reporting the Assembly's proceedings will not be liable to conviction for contempt of court under the strict liability rule only if the reports are also "accurate" and "in good faith". Amendment No. 88 deals with the issue of disqualification, providing for cases of bankruptcy and mental illness along similar lines to the Scotland Bill.
Amendments Nos. 91 and 276 concern the Assembly's Standing Orders. They make it clear that the Standing Orders require cross-community support to be amended or repealed as well as made, and delete from schedule 6 redundant references to the Royal Assent. Amendment No. 92 alters the Bill's provisions on petitions of concern.
As the Bill stands, a petition of concern leads automatically to a vote on the issue, which then requires cross-community support in order to succeed. During consultation with the parties, it was made clear to us that they felt that paragraph 13 of strand 1 to the Good Friday agreement should enable petitions of concern to be dealt with by the Special Committee procedure set out in paragraph 11 of strand 1. The agreement provides for the paragraph 11 Committee to examine and report on whether a measure or proposal for legislation is in conformity with equality requirements, including the European convention on human rights and the Bill of Rights. This amendment requires the Assembly, through its Standing Orders, to set out procedures by which petitions of concern may be referred to such a Committee for scrutiny, and thus brings the Bill closer to the provisions of the agreement.
Amendments Nos. 98 to 101 are technical and concern remuneration of Assembly Members. Amendment No. 98 provides for higher salaries to be paid to holders of junior ministerial office. Amendment No. 99 provides for higher salaries to be paid to Members of the Assembly Commission. Amendment No. 100 sets out rules for continued payment of Members' salaries after dissolution. Amendment No. 101 is consequential on amendment No. 98. I commend the amendments to the House.

§ Mr. Öpik
I have one point to make, relating to amendment No. 100. Although it deals primarily with remuneration, I understand that it also allows Members of the Assembly to keep their title and status during elections for the new Assembly. There is a contrast with Members of Parliament: even if they are re-elected, they are not MPs during the election.
I understand the remuneration point, but my slight concern is that the amendment's provisions favour incumbents at election times, and I presume that that reflects the fact that the Government have consulted with incumbents. I want to be clear about whether I have understood the amendment correctly and, if so, whether the Minister is concerned about that issue.

§ Mr. Ingram
My understanding of the point that the hon. Gentleman makes is the same.